Al Jazeera English’s “The Stream” have been focusing a lot on African news themes lately: first South Africa’s ANC’s 100th anniversary, then yesteryday they dedicated the half hour program to #OccupyNigeria. The producers invited journalist Omoyele Sowore of SaharaReporters, Afrobeat musician Sean Kuti (who have been prominent in marches), and Gbenga Sesan from the group Enough is Enough Nigeria. Lively discussion ensues. Nigerian and international media’s role in the events also come under scrutiny. Later today (2.30pm Eastern Standard Time) they’re continuing the focus on African themes when Senegalese singer Youssou N’dour’s run for president in his home country gets an airing. Word is N’dour will be on the program. It will be interesting to see how they tackle N’dour’s candidacy, reported in breathless tones in Western media thus far.
Is Youssou N’dour qualified to be President?
Egypt Elections
Egypt’s parliamentary elections are underway despite the intense violence that has rocked the nation over the past few weeks. While we all watch and wait (and vote!), a friend reminded me of this song (originally by the legendary political musician Sheikh Imam) sung by Eskenderella, a popular Egyptian band. A rough translation of the lyrics (from a friend of a friend) is below the jump.
Congo Votes
Over the past week, it was hard to find an article published in a major international press outlet not looking at the build-up to today’s presidential elections through the lens of fear and/of violence. With the exception of a few, most foreign journalists didn’t make it outside of Kinshasa (citing logistical problems). People did get killed in the Congolese capital on Saturday, and in Lubumbashi today, but the way this violence creeped into the international headlines clouds the calm and smoothness of the election process in other parts of the countries, as reported by Congolese citizen journalists on their blogs, in their local papers, or on their facebook pages. Congo is more than two cities. Other journalists tackled it from afar: The Financial Times, for example, is reporting the #DRC elections from Nairobi? That’s 2 days driving to Kinshasa.
Liberian Demo-crazy
There’s been a lot of rumors and propaganda flying around related to the Liberian run-off election, so it’s hard to get a sense of what’s really happening on the ground. But international and local news show that the police have killed three people, radio stations are being closed, and burnt down, and votes are being counted invalid.
Worst of all the tense atmosphere and a boycott by the CDC party has led to low voter turnout. If anything, this should be a wake up call to all those that thought having democratic elections would sweepingly solve a post-conflict country’s problems. Let’s hope that these dark days are just a short detour on the long road to the empowerment of the Liberian people.
Photo Credit: Glenna Gordon
The Assault on Patriarchy in Tunisia
By Dan Moshenberg
Tunisians went to the polls on Sunday, October 23, 2011. Remember the date, because it’s historic. It’s the first free elections of the Arab Spring, which is, in large part, an African Spring. Tunisia. Egypt. Libya. Maybe Algeria next, maybe Morocco. Who knows? Maybe Zimbabwe. If the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe can declare that gay rights should be included in the new Constitution … anything can happen. Anything can happen, that is, when people organize and push.
When Mubarak left office, in February, the Western press described the event as Mubarak stepping down. Mubarak didn’t step down. He was pushed … by Egyptian women in league with many others. When Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his crew fled the country, again, it was women who pushed … and have kept on pushing.
The Jasmine Revolution, from its inception, was more than “just” the eviction of a dictator. It was an assault on patriarchy, one that emerged from and as part of a decades long process of women and youth organizing. Women like Munira Thibia, a young homeless activist who mobilized and organized. Women like Saida Garrachi of the Association of Democratic Women, women who have made a democracy by acting democratically. Women writers and bloggers like Amira Yahyaoui and Imen Braham, both candidates for office in Sunday’s elections, young women who sought more than an end to censorship, more than freedom of expression. They sought and seek freedom itself, in action. Or Lina Ben Mhenni, another young woman blogger, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, who boycotted the election rather than endorse the illusion of democracy. The struggle, and the work of re-invention, continues.
Elections in Zambia
In the 3rd grade, I came back fresh from my first civics lesson in Mrs. Marshall’s class at Nkana Trust School, to announce, “Zambia is a One-Party Participatory Democracy. Kenneth Kaunda is our President. He believes in Humanism and UNIP won 99.99% of the vote.” I think my father mumbled something that expressed the trifecta of his disdain for what passed for civics in my school, the ridiculousness of the construct of a ‘One-Party Democracy’ and the hilarity of getting 99.99% of the vote. But he kept his sarcastic retort jovial – only partially because he probably didn’t want to discourage my enthusiasm. He was well aware of the grace under which we lived: peaceful Zambia, to which people from all nations could come and live, be they Angolans, Zairians, Rhodesians (then), South Africans, or from the many nations of Europe. ‘Zambia in the Sun’ even permitted the likes of us, Sri Lankans, whose home island was on the fast track to civil war. KK’s grace seemed to extend to everyone, until the first violent strikes by Zambian mine workers reminded us that Zambians were the real losers here: they were paid less, and given far fewer benefits than their ‘foreign-born’ counterparts.
Of course, foreigners and Zambians alike loved ‘batata KK’, his ubiquitous safari suits and white handkerchief, which was rumoured to have been given to him as a talisman of protection by an Indian. It’s true we didn’t get what he was talking about when he switched from calling us his ‘children’ or his ‘people’ to ‘comrades’. It seemed an unnecessary distance to leap. KK explained, on the front page of the Times of Zambia, that he had been told that calling his countrymen ‘his children’ was ‘paternalistic’. But we couldn’t figure out what was wrong with being a little paternal.
Perspective on 2011 SA Local Elections
If you’re tired of the nonsense published in The New York Times or on the BBC website about yesterday’s local elections in South Africa or can’t bear the spin that will come from ANC (this points to widespread approval of its current leadership) or Democratic Alliance spin doctors (tripling your vote from 2% to 6% among black voters is an achievement), see below the insights of Steven Friedman, still one of the few good political analysts out of South Africa. With his permission I took these from Steven’s Facebook page; he had posted them throughout the morning:
“… We have had tons of analysis but still do not know exactly how this is going to end because most of the township vote is not in yet. Trends so far suggest the ANC will indeed win all metros except Cape Town and that the DA has not made any great inroads among township voters but let us see whether that is confirmed when the big votes come in. So far this has gone as I thought it would!
… Turn-out is interesting – it seems it is actually quite a bit higher than last time. What effect that has on the final vote is something we must wait to see when the township vote comes in.
…On COPE, so far the evidence is that, if your party splits down the middle, you take around half the vote you did last time! That said, I do find the commentary which talks about COPE’s implosion nonsense. The results do suggest that the COPE voters who support Lekota have remained loyal to the party and that COPE will remain a factor in our politics. I find it irritating that cliches become a part of mainstream analysis because people can’t be bothered to think through an issue.
… Race is still an immensely important factor for all voters – we always hear how black township voters are influenced by race but no-one mentions that white suburban voters are too. The key issue in this campaign is that the DA made a massive pitch for black voters. My sense is that they did not make serious inroads. Race will remain important to South African voters for a long time to come.
… I haven’t seen anything in this election to suggest that [a situation in which the ruling party really has to worry that the opposition could beat it in a national election] is now thecase. The DA has run a very effective campaign but they still cannot attract majority black voters in any numbers. The ANC will face a serious threat at the polls only when it splits again and faces an opposition which comes out of the ANC.
… [The DA] may be getting a little too excited about results thus far but they should certainly get over 20% and 25% is not impossible. I think this comes from a consolidation of the opposition vote – the DA has persuaded more opposition voters to come out and vote and to vote specifically for it – and from the fact that some ANC voters have stayed away. So part of the DA’s gain is not because they have won more votes but because the ANC has won less.
… On opposition parties, both we and they should acknowledge that parties can play important roles even if they are not the government: I know of democracies where parties are in opposition for 100 years and they still play a role. Opposition parties should work out what they can do to represent their voters – being in government is not the only way they can do that. Of course, if the ANC splits again and we have very competitive elections, opposition parties may play a role in coalitions but no-one knows when that will happen.
I think the ruling party has two problems. It hasn’t found a way to deal with its internal conflicts and it is becoming alienated from many of its voters who feel that leaders don’t take them seriously. Any ground it has lost are a result of those two factors.
… My sense is that the ANC has not made any inroads this time into the ‘white’ vote. A key reason for the DA’s gains is that they have increased their support among whites and other racial minorities. You may have noticed that, at first, the ANC was way behind in the major metros – it is still behind in Johannesburg. That is because the results which come in first are those from the mainly white suburbs.
… I don’t think we should automatically assume that rural people [still voting for the ANC and not for opposition parties] are less informed. But if you look at the results, it is still clear that race is a much more important issue than rural or urban. In general, South Africans vote their identities – they vote for who for who they think speaks for people like them. Race is very important but so are all sorts of other identity factors including tradition – who your family has supported through the years. Unless the opposition comes out of the ANC it cannot persuade most voters that it shares their identity.”
Learn more about Steven here.
The ANC Goes Pop
In May South Africans go to the polls to vote for new local councils. With few surprises, the result should be predictable. But the parties are going through the electioneering motions. This includes coming up with election songs. Something people can dance to while you make promises from the stage. They all did the same in the 2009 national elections. That time the verdict was mixed. The ruling ANC is first out of the gate with a kwaito tune with the meaningless title: “Together we can build better communities.” If the tune sounds and the video looks familiar, it is because it is the work of kwaito producer Arthur Mafokate, whose songs sound like they were composed by a computer program and whose roster of mainly female artists–in this case Chomee–usually make up for deficient vocal skills with gyrations and short skirts. Here‘s a translation of the lyrics. Usually I’m a sucker, but I am not moved by these empty platitudes.
But that’s not the end of it. Now the provincial ANC in Gauteng province plan to launch their own version of the Pop Idol franchise. Serious. And the party would prefer that competitors sing songs about the liberation struggle not about their terrible life under ANC rule.
According to the ANC: “…This initiative is based on what young people of all races have said they want.”
As a friend remarked: I am sure that the #1 priority for youth of all races is another pop star. I can’t imagine what other needs are unfulfilled?
‘The Future’ in Nigeria
Nigerian creatives, regardless of the election outcome, reckon “the future” is here.
